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Dispersed camping · New Mexico

Santa Fe National Forest dispersed camping rules

You can camp up to 14 days in any 45 on this forest, anywhere that isn't posted closed. The card below is the whole rule set — every line links the order or page it came from, and all of it was checked on .

14 days in any 45

Occupancy and Use Restrictions Order 10-494 (in effect June 10, 2021 - December 31, 2026) prohibits "camping for more than 14 days, whether or not consecutive, within any 45-day period" on the forest. Note the R3 45-day window - not the 30-day window common in Colorado. No move-distance requirement is stated in the order. Order expires December 31, 2026 - reverify for a successor order.

Where you can camp

Allowed unless posted

"Primitive camping is allowed almost anywhere on the Santa Fe National Forest unless otherwise posted." The camping page adds that primitive areas "generally do not offer any amenities although occasionally you will find a toilet building or a picnic table and grill." source

Keep your distance

  • Recommended: 100 ft — Forest camping page: "Please keep your campsite at least 100 feet from streams and lakes, including riverbanks or areas next to bodies of water." Worded as a request on the recreation page, not as a numbered-order prohibition - rendered as guidance. source

Roads and vehicle access

Check the motor vehicle use map

The forest's MVUM page says the maps "show which routes (roads and trails) are open to motor vehicle travel, what types of vehicles they are open to, and what season they are open" and that the MVUM "can be used in conjunction with the visitor map to determine which roads are open, and how far you are allowed to drive off of the road." No official Santa Fe NF page found that explicitly ties dispersed-camping vehicle access to MVUM corridors - check the MVUM itself for camping-corridor symbols.

Fires right now

No fire restrictions last checked August 18, 2026

Whether you can have a fire at your site runs on the forest's fire order, not on camping rules — see the live fire restrictions page for this forest and what each stage still allows before you light anything.

Closures and special orders

Rules checked against the pages linked above — the full list is below the card.

Rules change by forest order and posted signage — confirm with the Forest Supervisor's Office, Santa Fe at (505) 438-5300 before you go.

How to read these rules

Dispersed camping means camping outside a developed campground — no fee, no table, no toilet, no water. You pick an already-used spot, pack out everything you brought, and the rules above are the whole deal you're agreeing to. The stay limit counts the way the card says it counts, not the way it counts on the forest next door: some places count per spot, some across the whole forest, some inside a radius, and moving a short distance often doesn't restart the clock.

Distance rules come in two shapes. Keep-away rules ("at least 100 feet from water") protect the thing you're camping near; stay-close rules ("within 300 feet of the road") keep vehicles on ground that can take them. A line marked recommended on the card is the office's guidance, not an order — the rest are enforceable rules, and a posted sign at the site beats everything on this page.

The motor vehicle use map is the legal answer to "can I drive in there to camp" — if a road isn't on it, that road is closed to your vehicle, and many forests only allow roadside camping along the roads the map marks for it. It's a free PDF; download it before you lose signal.

Fires are a separate rule with a separate clock. Nothing on this page says you can light one — the card's fire line says where that answer lives today. This forest's fire restrictions page carries the current stage with the date it took effect. If a fire is allowed when you get there, buy your wood near camp — hauling firewood from home is how tree-killing pests reach new forests, and the BTU chart says what that local bundle is actually worth.

Where these rules come from

Every rule above was read on the forest's own pages and orders on the dates shown — nothing here is borrowed from another forest or an old guidebook. The managing agency is U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region (R3).

Before you go